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CONTINUED FROM A Family Reunion Part I
================================
(Original message, Family Reunion Pt. 3 Sent on 9710.03)
Ky stood in disbelief that the situation that Q had just placed on the
table. He was obvlious to all of the things around him except for the
painting of his mother, which stood prominetly displayed, more glamerously
shown than the rest. Of course, this was something that Q created, and the
portrait of Ky's mother was the only picture of his mothers family.
He looked around at all of the portraits of his fathers family, then
back to his mother. She was beautiful. It was hard to beleive that Celestra
was a member of the continuim. It was hard to beleive that he was related at
all to the entities that proclaimed themselves to be the all powerful source
in the galaxy. This had to me some mistake, some sick cruel joke.
"There must be some mistake," Ky said, looking around in disbelief.
"Oh no," Q said. "No mistake. No illusions. This IS your past."
Ky looked around again. He glanced to his brother, who was doing the
same thing. It was so difficult to beleive that they were a product of a
mixed marriage from two people from two seperate species, whos existance was
based on hatred and mistrust of the other.
"I can tell you the story," Q said, with a cocky grin. "With all the
details. It's rather interesting."
Ky looked at his brother. THey knew that they dare not share telepathic
communication, Q wouls be able to read that. But somehow, they were able to
read their expressions. Deep down, they both knew that this had to be true.
It explained a lot.
"Yes," Cyrax said. "Tell us the story."
Q stood, walked around the hallway, and then sat down again. It seemed
as if Q was looking for a place to start this seemingly magnificant story.
"It all began, one starteling day, shortly after the Borg destoryed the
Auria Sytesm..."

<TBC>
==========================
(Originally from Reunion Pt. 4 Sent on 9710.03)

The story Q told to the brothers was seemingly endless, as he told of the
prespective lives of Sorten and Celestra. Both seemed very intriging, and
very tragic. Almost a Romeo And Juliette Story. It was not known for most of
the twins lives that Celestra had born children, as a product of the union
with Sotren, however once the continum found out, Sotren and Celestra both
were "terminated"
Ky could not beleive the story told to him by someone whom he hated. His
brother was obviously in the same state of shock, confusion, and fear.
"Well?" Q asked, looking at the brothers who were still seemingly
speechless. "This dosen't suprise you?"
In the back of his mind, it really did not suprise him. After all, he
was not your typical El Aurian. He was powerful granted. But somehow, he
always attributed that to his Celtic Beleifs.
"Do you have anything to say?" Q asked.
"At least we know." Cy said, barely moving.
"Don't you comprehend the situation?!" Q Shouted at them, looking
around. "Don't you understand? You are a product of a mixed union! Between
two entities who were mortal enimies!"
"And that affects us how?" Ky said, walking aroudn the room. "What
difference does it make who our father and who our mother was?!"
"Don't you understand!? You will never be accepted by anyone! No El
Aurian will speak with you and no one from the continuium will ever
acknolowdge your existance." Q said, rage in his voice. A Sick and twisted
tone came over him. "You will never be anything more than the wanderers you
are."
"Why do we have to tell people at all?" Ky said. "What makes you think
we'll tell people of our past!"
"You comprehend nothing at all," Q said with sick laughter. "By comming
here, you've opened a virtual Pandora's box. Now that you know, everyone will
know. There is nothing you can do to stop it."
"I don't understand," Ky said, looking back at his brother then to Q.
"All those involved when you were born did their very best to hide and
lock everything away in here. The continium wanted nothing to do with this
situation, and you were made to be El Aurian." Q paused, then drew in another
breath. "You were never meant to see this "hall of records" but now that you
have seen your true history, so shall everyone else."
And with that, Q snapped his fingers, and Ky and his brother disapeared,
reappearing on the Federation, just when they left. Everything the same. It
took a moment for Ky to adjust again to being blind.

What would happen now?

Fin (for Now)

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Ky's Personal Log
SD 9709.28

The recent mission has me rather upset internally. The sudden loss of
hundreds of voices and their presence that I have gotten accustom to have
really truly gotten me to an imballance internally, and it will be a long
time for me to adjust. I have grown so accustom to the constant presence of
each and every crewmember onboard, that without them, I am not the same
person that I woudl normally be.
Also, one strong shattering loss is the loss of contact with Arie.
Something that she never feels, but I can. She does not know my true feelings
on the entire situation, and what she means to me. She has served as the only
constant in my life that does not change. She is the pillar that has kept me
going. I have been in constant contact with her presence almost ever since I
came onboard, but more strongly in the past few months.
I had hoped to talk to her about my delima about furthering my
education, however, the mission came first, and now, I don't know what will
happen. I need her help, her ear, but I jsut do not know how to approach her
and ask her for the help I need. I've always been independet, but recently,
so many things have changed.

I just don't know anymore.

END LOG

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Kyrax Jovan Akerio
Counselor, Lieutenant, USS Federation
SD 9710.21

BEGIN LOG

The day went normally enough. Simple, easy, and full of suprises. Well,
mostly. I began by a simple relazing in my office when Lt Acyr came in out of
the blue. This was suprising enough as I did not expect hes to come to me for
hes's evaluation, but I rather I go find hes.

I began a simple session by just taking. I find that Acyr does not take
kindly or trust some people, and I think it is mostly because of Acyr's
tri-gender orientation. I am still not aware of the situation wholely, but I
so forward looking into it. I actually think I got through to hes somehow,
but I am not sure.

After the session, I wanted some social itneraction, so I went into the
lounge. The minute I got there, that overgrown pussycat Thoth came after me,
thinking I was kibbles. I don't know if he wanted to play or not, but I
morphed into a table in hopes of confusing him. I don't know if I succeded,
but he began to scratch profusley at the table, and therefore I was unable to
hold the shape. I demorphed and used a simp,e swoosh of my hand and sent the
cat flying across the room. I did do it a bit too hard, and Serena and Thoth
beamed away.

Luckily, Rebecca was there, and I was able to get her to fix my wounds, which
were pretty deep. However, witin moments, the wounds were gone. for
gratitude, I gave her a rose, one that I was able to teleport from Ten
Forward. She was pleased at the guesture I beleive, and we began talking
again. I intended it to be a follow up to my casual sessions with the Rebecca
persona, but now that the Doctor has taken the persona full time, and I do
not know if
we have crossed over the line from professionalism to personalism.

END LOG

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Ky walked around his quarters, pacing like man who's wife was in labor
with their soon to be first born child. A hundred thousand thoughts flowed
through his mind like equations through a computer. Thoughts that would
somehow shape his future as he knew it. He was on the eve of making one of
the largest decisions in his life, and he did not know how to go about it.
The information came a few weeks ago. He had toyed with the idea of
going to a "school" per se, to obtain something to call his own. He had never
been a proud person, in fact, he was truly modest most of the time, but he
had never really considered going to a school to get a degree or a doctorate
in something that he found as a natural gift.
A natural gift. Is that what he called it? This 7th sense that he called
it (The 6th sense being his extreemly enhanced PSI). Somehow, the nurturing
of being a counselor came naturally to him. He was able to relate to most
people's problems, their experiences. A natural gift of understanding people
probally came naturally to him because he was most likely as crazy as the
people he counseled.
Nevertheless, a simple nagging voice began to talk to him. He needed to
do something for him. Something that he could call his own, but it could
never be taken from him. Did he really want to do this?
Ky again read over the information sent to him by The Betazoid
Psychological Academy, as well as the Federation Psychological Department. He
could study abroad and stay on the Federation, or he could go to Betazed. He
still had to take palcement exams, and everything else.

He just didn't know.

He needed to talk to someone. His brother would not do. HIs brother was
too critical in a fancy free sort of way. Every so often, the two would trade
attitudes and demeanour. One would be the sensible one, one would care
nothing about the world. Cyrax was that twin now. He was very fanciful, and
really had no cares that much anymore.
Ariell. Ky could talk to her, but what good would it do. She would be
all for it no matter what the costs, which scared Ky. She would be too biased
in the situation, having herself being Betazoid, and attended the
Psychological Academy. However, Ariell had always been concerned with Ky and
what she thought was best for him, best for the way he felt. She could be a
possibility.
There was Rebecca. Ky had always been able to talk to her. She was a
very open person, and they both enjoyed each opthers company emmensly. They
had both been a pillar for the other; Ky being supporative during Wingts
exploration of the female aspect of itself, finally enabeling Wingt to make
the perminate shift to Female. Rebecca being supportave in general to Ky and
his efforts to fit in as ships counselor. However, Ky was lary of this. Their
relationship had taken a sharp turn recently, a turn that was headding out of
the "professional" realm into the "Friendship" realm, and if Ky and Rebecca
were not careful, the turn could lead into something a lot quicker than they
had planned, and who knows what could happen.
If Jar'Tan were here, Ky could most certainly talk to him. Strong,
quiet, benevelent, supportaive. It would be easy to discuss the situation
with Jar'Tan.
In general, there was no one else Ky felt even the slightest possibility
of talking to about such a big decision in his life.

He just didn't know.

He again "felt" through the massive ammounts of information. Placement
tests, recomandations, boocoos of paperwork. Ky sighed. He walked to the
window, and slowly removed the blindfold that shielded the ice blue, the
fresh blue color of his eyes. He sat in the chair and stared into space. On
days where he felt good about himself, and the harmonics of the symphony of
emmotions and feeling of the crew which flooded his daily life were in tune,
he
could almost swear he could see again. He could see the rainbow dance of the
stars as the Federation entered warp.
However, his concerns lay heavy on his mind tonite, and unfortunally,
the crew just wasnt in one of those moods tonite. Try as he may, not a single
color was visible. Not even in his imagination.

He just didn't know.

He just didn't know the answers to his questions. The who's, what's,
when's, why's, how's, and all the thousands of other questions that he so
longed to know. What should he do.

He just didn't know...

He just didn't know...

He just didn't.

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Lieutenant Kyrax Joven Akerio
Counselor, USS Federation
Person Log
9711.09

BEGIN RECORDING

I have suffered great mental stress recently, and I do not know how to
go about whatever it is that is causing it. During a recent trip though a
wormhole that forced us some 80 years from home, we, rather I, encountered an
intelligence of profound evil. An evil I cannot even begin to explain. Even
with my strongest mental blocks, this entity was able to force its way into
my mind with ease.
I do not know why this entity chose only to reveal itself to me. maybe
it has something to do with my recently discovered Q heritage, however, all I
know is that I was afraid. Terrified. I know that if we even come close to
twhere that wormhole was, I begin to experience the evil again, and the pain
already starts. If it comes down to us going through that wormhole again, so
we can return home, I will be forced to leave teh ship. I beleive that
if we make another trip through that wormhole, I fear that I will not
survive.
Unless we figure out something else, I am afraid that that may have to
be what happens.

END LOG

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<< Editors Note: Eadaoin: A goddess of the Tuatha De Danann, associated with
poetry and inspiration. Eadaoin is quite clearly meant to be understood as
one of the fairy folk, the SIdhe. One of the main legends dealing with her
describes how she was changed into different forms and reborn several times
to different mothers. She is clearly connected with the mysteries of death
and rebirth.>>

This time, Ky awoke as usual, but this time he was not in a usual place.
If one could describe what music and creativity looked like, it woudl
describe the palce where Ky was. He was in a place where mental thoughts and
what people convieve as reality converged into one. Ky was in a place he had
never been.
Within moments of Ky's awakening, a figure simmered from pure light. As
soon as Ky could make oiut the face, he smiled. Before anyone could know, the
figure of Captain Ariell Johannson-Riker came into view. Ky's grin widened as
his lifetime friend and teh closest thing he had to family appeared.
And she looked good! Dressed in shimmering white and lavendar gown,
Ariell was no longer the conserative and withdrawn captain she was. No longer
was she dressed in the Starfleet uniform, but she was now dressed in a
flowing dress that accented her voloptious figure and curves. Her hair was
down, and she looked free, floating.
"Do you know who I am?" Ariell spoke, softly, sensioustly.
"You are an Otherword goddess, yet I know not which one," Ky said,
stammering though the entire sentence. He was taken very much back by this,
curious and beautiful, yet frightening conguigation of Ariell.
"I am Eadaoin," She spoke, walking over to where Ky was."and I am here
to help you make a choice, one that will affect you in ways you will never
know."
"What do you mean?" Ky asked, looking around, taking all he could in.
"You will see," She giggled, and waved her hand.
Ky was taken back by her response, but was not that shocked. Afterall,
the two previous gods has stated the same thing.
"Whats a matter Kyvie Wivie?" She said, walking through a long corridore,
which seemed so very endless.
"Something has to be explainable about all of this, something is
happening," He said, lost for once, in the logic of his mind. Good thing too,
for he hadn't, he could have easily been seduced by the Ariell/Eadaoin that
was walking along side him.
"Oh Pooh," She said. "Why spoil everything with trying to EXPLAIN
something."
"And what shall we call that?" Ky said. "what should we call abandaoning
all attempts at explination and believing in something one does not
understaid?"
The embodiement of Ariell turned, and crooked her finger at Ky in a
'come here motion'. Ky drew closer, and Areill smiled, and moved her lips
near his ears.
"I will tell you, but it is a secret," She said, looking around. Ky
nodded, and she drew in closer to whisper in his ear. "Faith."
"Faith?" Ky said, raising his voice. "You expect me to beleive in Faith
alone?" His voice echosed through the empty hall.
"Oh darn," Eadaoin said, with exagarated exagarqation. She almost
sounded like the stereotyical bubblehead. "Now everyonw knows."
"What do you mean... what the... you are.... THERE'S NO BODY HERE!"
"Silly me," She said, and giggled. KY looked afraid. THis was the
person/entity/goddess or whatever she was that was going to decide Ky's fate.
"Just lets get started. What amd I supposed to do?" He said, becomming
more and more unnerved.
"That, I cannot tell youuuuu!" Ariell sang, and laughed.
Ky rolled his eyes. "Great. Just great. My fate that will be mine for
eternity rests in the hands of Bimbette, the bubbleheaded captain goddess."
"I like bubbles!" she said, giggeling.
"Oh bother," he said, and began to walk again down the hall.
"Hey, wait up!" She said, and began to catch up with him.
"You need to give me some sort of clue, some direction," He said.
"Some sort of clue," She said, grinning. "I have MANY Clues!"
"yes some sort of clue so I dont end up just running around amuck,"
"Amuck amuck amuck amuck amuck!" She said, and began to dance around Ky.
He sighed. How come he associated Ariell with this Goddess? Eadaoin was the
goddess associated with art, poetrry and inspirations, as well as death and
rebirth. But she acts like this?
The Ariell/Eadaoin entinty stopped answering and abruptly opened a door
and shoved Ky into the room. The rook was dark, aside from a dimly lit
screen.
"Sit down," She said, smiling and motioining to a chair. Ky complied,
and took a chair that was close to the screen. "Lets review," she said, and
giggled.
"Let's review," Ariell said, pointing to the screen. Ky zoaned as this not
so sharp copy of Ariell babbled on and on about what appeared to be nothing.
He looked through the room and through out his mind to try to find someplace
out.
"Are you listening to me?" She said, looking at Ky. "YooHoo? IS anyone
home?" She said, knocking on Ky's head. "Here Kyrax kyrax kyrax."
"No Dummie dummie dummie!" Ky said, standing and walking over to the
dorway. "You have made no sense!"
"I know!" She said, smiling. "Isnt it great?"
Ky rolled his eyes in fustration.
"its up to you know," She said, walking over to the dorway. It appeared,
and they again walked out into the halway. "You are the one to make the
decision."
"But I do not understand," he said.
"You will," She said, as they entered into the Hall.

Ky wandered for endless ammounts of time, trying to figure out the
puzzle presented before him. While his possibilities were endless, he seemed
to be cutting off choices right and left. He saw images from his past. Scenes
from the Federation, scenes from the Ranch out west, Scenes from the
Austrailian Outback. All of it did not make sense.
Good scenes flashed beore his eyes. The birth of his nephew. The poker
games on the train out west, arriving on the Federation. But then, bad scenes
flashed as well. The fire at the ranch, the fights with his brother, and of
course, several of the conflicts.
"Only you can change this all," Ariell said. "And the Otherworld is your
future."
"I don;'t understad." Ky said, looking around. "I still don't
understand."
"I keep saying that you will, but you never understand."
"All I see is the mistakes I made in my life," Ky said. "And the people
I;ve hurt."
"Is that all?" Eadaoin/Ariell spoke, softly, waliing to a particular
door.
"No, I've been able to see myself though othres lives. I've blamed my
mistakes on others." Ky paused. "And I've constantly hurt those that are
close to me."
Eadaoin smiled. "You are getting there."
"But there is one more thing, one thing that that I regret most of all."
"Which Is?" Se asked, twirling her curls around a finger.
"Most of all, I regret that I never made peace with those I loved. Arie,
Cy, and a lot of the crew of the Fed. I just wish I could go backand, oh what
is the use. Its over. There's no use in wishing for thigns that cannot be
changed."
"But there you are wrong," She spoke, smiling. "Things can still yet be
changed."
"What to you mean?" Ky said, walking up to her.
"We here in the Otherworld decided that you needed a kick in the ass so
to speak." She paused, and began to file a nail. "This was your wakeup call."
"You mean, I, you are sending me, I mean, this isnt, Its," he rushed the
embodiment of Eadaoin and hugged her. "Oh thank you, I know its not too
late!"
"Goodbye Kyrax, you are special to us," She said, opening a door. Ky
looked inside, but saw nothing. He was hesitant to go though, so Ariell gave
him a small nudge.

<TBC>

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Personal Log
Ensign StDuiex
Stardate 9711.29

Since both the Captain and XO were busy at the moment, Jack made an
appointment to meet with them later. He made his way to the main cargo bay on
deck 15a and moved the container with the rest of his belongings to his
cabin. He now opened the container and pulled out a smaller, sealed box. This
was about a meter long, and a half a meter high and wide and made of wood. He
walked over to his desk, place the box on the desk and sat down in the chair.
He closed his eyes and reclined, thinking back to the events of the past
several weeks...
To his shock and utter delight, his parents had traveled to his Academy
graduation. In
all of the years that he had known them, they had never left the relative
safety of NPC
(New Paris Colonies). Even after he had become Captain of the SS Yuma, they
would
never take him up on his offers to see the worlds and places that he traveled
to saying they
had no interest in seeing anything else in the Universe. He would shake his
head and try to
change their minds, but to no avail. To his total surprise, they came to the
graduation.
They had stayed for almost two weeks and saw as many sights as they could
cram into
their visit, reminding him more of children than the elderly couple that they
were. As he
said goodbye to them, Jack remembered clearly wondering if he would ever be
seeing them again as they were getting up there in years. He did not have
long wonder as, 7 minutes after leaving Spacestation McKinley, the passenger
ship they were traveling in exploded, still within clear view of the station.
The horror of that moment was etched in his mind forever.
Six days later, with a brief leave of absence granted him, Jack stepped
into his families
house on NPC. He made arrangements for most of the stuff to be donated,
packed up the
personal items for storage, and gathered the one thing that he would take
with him on his
new assignment. It was a very old wooden box, beautifully inlaid with wild
designs on all
sides. As a child he had once been severely reprimanded for attempting to
open it. Afterwards, his father taking him aside, it was explained that
someday, when the time was
right, he would be allowed to open it and what was in it would be explained
to him.
He had a small service for few friends of his parents, having no other
living relatives that
he knew of. Once he had finished his tasks on NPC he quickly bid goodbye to
the place
and made arrangements to meet up with the USS Federation, his first Starfleet
assignment.
He opened his eyes, staring at that box, now resting on the desk in
front of him.
“Well Pop, I guess the time has come. . .”

Ensign Jack StDuiex

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Personal Log
Ensign Jack St.Duiex
Stardate 9711.30

Opening the box, Jack discovered a letter, written in his fathers
handwriting 38 years ago, and addressed to him. Before reading it he looked
at the rest of the contents. There were some tabloid articles, a few old
documents, 6 small data disks, and a silver chain with a medal hanging from
it. As he read the letter his migrain headache increased as the world that he
had always known was swept away.
It seems that for the past 200 years his family had belonged to a group
known as “The Rose” which had it’s origins on earth, founded early in the
22nd century. While the original motives and ideals of the group were
philanthropic and civic minded, it soon evolved into a worldwide conglomerate
controlled by a small group of families. Publicly applauded for it’s efforts
in funding many public works and projects across the planet at a time of
great
need, the controlling families became enmoursly wealthy by skimming off the
profits of the industries for their own. Over time it’s influence and reach
extended out into the galaxy. That was until his father, a man whom he had
always thought a simple ship mechanic, provided damning evidence to UFP
investigators that brought down “The Rose” and the controlling families along
with it. In return for his betrayal, the UFP had provided his father a new
identity, surgically altering his appearance, and giving him a new life on
New Paris Colonies as a simple mechanic. There he married and raised Jack in
total oblivion to his true heritage. The disks contained additional detailed
accounting and banking information that his father had not turned over to the
UFP, for reasons unknown.
Jack let the letter fall from his hands as his mind began to race. Was
this the reason why his parents had never wished to travel? Had his fathers
identity been discovered on his trip to his son’s graduation at San
Francisco? If so, was that the reason for the destruction of the passenger
transport that his parents were traveling on back to NPC? As his son, was
Jack in danger or for that matter, was the crew of the USS Federation in
danger as
well?
Jack placed all of the items back into the box and stowed it under his
bunk. He needed to speak to the Captain, or at least Commander Tamara, and
turn this information over to them. Not knowing the temperament of his new
skipper, he would not be too surprised to find himself transferred off of the
Fed as quickly as he had been assigned to it. He stood, straightened his
uniform and left his cabin, seeking to locate the 1st Officer. .
.
- Ensign Jack St.Duiex -

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PERSONAL LOG - SD 9712.03
Ensign StDuiex
"The Rose"

Jack found the Commander in the Mess hall, sitting at a corner table,
dinner finished, going over reports from the department heads. "Umm... excuse
me ma'am, mind if I speak to you for a moment?" She looked up and smiled,
waving to a seat. "Sure Ensign... what's on your mind?" Grabbing a seat, Jack
quickly got into it, explaining the box and the contents that his father had
left to him, going back over the events of the past several weeks. He
pulled out the letter that his father had written and showed it to her,
briefly answering the few questions that she had. When he had finished
telling her the story, he told her of his suspicion that the passenger ship
that his parents were killed on was sabotaged and that he may now be a target
of who ever killed them. Agreeing to help him try to figure out what was on
the data disks, they rose from the table, Jack headed to his cabin to get the
disks while the Commander went to drop off her reports.
They met in the media library and started trying to retrieve the data
from the disks. Several hours later they were still at it. Jack stood behind
Tamara as she took her turn trying to break the encryption code that kept
them from the data. A smile slowing coming to her face, Tamara announced her
success, “Ta Da! We got it!” Jack leaned forward over her shoulder reading
the index of the data on the disks. “Whoa.... There are blind accounts on
at least a half a dozen planets, lists of names and payments... Lets look at
the others.” They spent the next hour scanning the index of the rest of the
disks and at the end seemed to have more questions than when they had
started. What was the real reason for the accounts? The names on the lists
were all well known political and interplanetary business leaders from 30 to
40 years ago... but what were the payments for? And what about all of the
money that was in those accounts? Since Jack's letter from his father was
dated 38 years ago, it was safe to assume that the disks had been out of
circulation for that time. Hence, without the encryption coded passwords on
the disks, a veritable fortune would have lain untouched for almost 40 years!
One question was answered clearly. Jack’s grandfather’s name was all over
those documents. His father’s name was also on a few. But why? The only thing
that Jack had ever heard growing up about his Grandfather was that he had
died in an accident several years before Jack,s birth. And what about his
father? He had only known his dad to be a simple man who loved to tinker with
engines of all types.
He wanted to keep going, to keep digging, but it was late and Jack had
already imposed far to heavily on Commander Tamara, who was attempting to
hide her yawn behind her hand. “Commander, I don’t know how to thank you. I
never would have been able to crack that encryption without your help. But,
I’m more confused now than I was when I opened the letter. . .” Gathering up
the disks they accidentally bumped heads. Tam stood up rubbing her
forehead. “Hey you! Nice way to thank me for 5 hours of work!” They laughed
as the left the library together. Jack asked Tamara if she could hold off
telling the Captain until they pulled some more of the information together,
to which she reluctantly agreed. They parted company at deck 9, agreeing to
meet again the following day after duty and Jack stepped out, promising to
put the disks in the safe in his quarters.

Ensign Jack StDuiex

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Lieutenant JG James Michael Riker
USS Federation NCC-2100-B
Operations Officer/Engineer
Personal Log Stardate: 9712.04

Computer Open Personal Log...
Computer> Personal Log Opened

Hmm, well some good news. I Finally got around to meeting up Anne
outside of work, but I still need to get her while she's working because we
really need to figure out where we're going. I mean sure the Helm plots the
course, but it doesn't show me the extended flight plan and that alien likes
to change course every so often so I'd like to know what our final
destination might be... I know most of the Delta Quadrant is unexplored to a
Federation Starship, but we should have some LR Scans of Planets and
anomalies.
Well I finally got into the holodeck yesterday I'm running a program
called "Air Warriors" It's been pretty fun as of late. It's basically a
recreation of Earth's World War II I've chosen to be over Europe with the
Allied Forces. It's quiet invigorating flying in a P-57 Mustang not to
mention flying a B-17 Flying Fortress although I did like the protection of
the Right and Left Waist Gunners on the B-25 Mitchell which could hit planes
coming up
from the 6 not to mention left or right, but it's only got 6 eggs which are
alright, but compared to the 12 the B-17 has it's nothing. I think I'll try
out a Me 109 I hear from Ensign Morse they're pretty agile, the Spit MK's are
pretty good dog fighters, but they have low fuel and not much ammo... but
have speed and maneuverability. (Hopefully I'll actually have a lounge log
about this. )

Computer Close Log...
Computer> Log Closed and Sent

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ENS St.Duiex
PERSONAL LOG - SUPPLEMENTAL
=/\= SD 9712.06 =/\=

Jack tossed and turned, finally giving up trying to sleep. He got out of bed
and
padded over to his desk, getting two of the tablets that had been prescribed
to him by the medical staff at the Academy for his migraines. He downed them
and sat at his desk, his head in his hands. He kept going back over his
earliest memories of childhood...
He remembered the way that his parents would always look at each other
whenever the telecommunicator rang or when someone came to the door
unannounced. He remembered one particular fight that they had had. He must
have been about 6 or 7 at the time and, although he could not remember too
much about it, he had always thought that it had been about flowers and could
never understand how such a dumb subject could be the basis of such a large
argument... flowers... roses? Had it been about “The Rose” and he had just
remembered it in a child’s memory as flowers?
He pulled the box out and, for at least the hundredth time since he had
first opened it, he looked at the contents, picking up the fine silver chain
with the small medallion on it and examined it closely. It looked like a
warrior or... a knight... with a sword held high... and a small flower...
a flower... a rose?... a sword and a rose?... like the tattoo that he wore
on his left bicep!

He stood, wondering if Commander Tamara was still up...

Ensign Jack StDuiex

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Commander Tamara Zekad
The Search for the Rose Begins
=/\= SD 9712.07 =/\=

Tamara was up. At that moment she was sitting on her bed, wearing some
green silk lounging pants and a matching short sleeve top, brushing her hair.
Her eyes had a faraway look as she contemplated the information Jack had
shared with her today. Encrypted discs. Mysterious cabals. Hidden bank
accounts. Sabotage and assassinations. This was the stuff of spy novels.
She grinned to herself in glee. She adored spy novels! Glancing at her
chronometer, she wondered if Jack was still up. At that moment, her door
chime rang. Tamara knew who it was of course. "Come in, Jack!"
Ensign Jack St. Duiex entered with a box under his arm, glancing around
briefly. "I hope I'm not disturbing you, Commander?"
Tamara came forward with a smile. "First of all, we're off duty in my
quarters, so call me Tamara. Second, you certainly are disturbing me! I can't
stop thinking about your situation. It's been running through my head all
evening." She motioned for him to take a seat and walked over to the
replicator. "What can I get you?"
Jack set the box on the table carefully, calling over his shoulder,
"Coffee, black. Thanks."
Tamara quickly ordered up two black coffees and joined him at the
table. She looked at the box curiously as she set the coffees down, then
took a seat across from him, hands clasped in front of her. "What's in the
box?"
Jack grinned, enjoying the moment of anticipation. "Guess."
Tamara rolled her eyes in disgust. "That's just mean. I presume
something new you found regarding your parents?"
Jack nodded, deciding to put her out of her misery. Besides, he was
just as anxious to show her the contents and get her input. He opened the
box and took out the medallion. He held it up to the light. They both
watched in silence as the old silver gleamed dully in the cabin lights,
twirling lazily on its chain. After a moment, Tamara said in a soft voice,
"It's beautiful." She leaned forward, not touching the pendant as it hung at
eye
level. "What are those markings on the front? They seem to be etched into
the metal..."
Jack handed it to her. "It is. I've been studying it for the past
hour. The figure of the man is quite clear, as you can see. And there," he
pointed. "That seems to be a sword. So, I presume he represents a warrior of
some sort. And look at this." He pointed her gaze to the flower which was
etched at the man's feet.
Tamara held it close to her face, then held it up into the light, then
drew the medallion back to her face. "Definitely a warrior, a knight
perhaps....but the uniform he's wearing is very old. Definitely Earth
origin, maybe medieval.." She pointed out the lines suggesting a breast
plate. "And yes, I agree. That's definitely a sword, there's even a
suggestion of a hilt there."
Jack nodded, watching her face now, the medallion's etchings committed
to memory. "And the flower? What significance do you put on that?"
She looked away from the medallion and tilted her head to the side as
she looked at him. "I think the same thing you do, of course. There's no
question but that this is a rose. And one more link to the mystery."
Jack nodded at her confirmation. "But what could be the significance of
this medallion? I had the metal tested before I came here. The silver was
engraved with these pictures between the 12th and 14th centuries. Long before
my father was born. This may have nothing at all to do with my situation."
Tamara held the medallion thoughtfully in her hand, moving it around her
fingers as she contemplated his question. Then she suddenly leaned forward.
"Jack, we're assuming this..organization which called itself The Rose began
in your father's time. But what if it didn't? What if it has been around
since, say, medieval times? Perhaps a group of families in Europe began it
for some purpose, and membership is a hereditary thing?"
Jack's eyes widened as he considered the idea. "We'll need to do some
digging, of course..." he said slowly, his voice trailing off into a
question.
Tamara nodded quickly, her eyes locked on his, thrilled he had used that
particular pronoun.
"I need to do a genealogical check on my family tree to see what part of
Europe my family was in when this medallion was made..."
Tamara spoke up, "Then we can search European Research Database for
texts from that area. Old diaries, pamphlets, invitations, etcetera
belonging to the members of your family at that time."
Jack leaned back in his chair, satisfied for now. He clasped his hands
around the warm mug of coffee and sipped it thoughtfully. Finally, he was
taking action toward solving this mystery. He knew he had a long way to go,
but he was taking the first steps now. Tonight.
Tamara looked down at her hand, feeling the cool weight of the heavy
silver oddly soothing. Her fingertips searched out the figure of the knight
and the rose. She reached for her mug and lifted it to her lips, meeting
Jack's eyes over the rim. He raised his in a friendly salute and she smiled
back. This strange partnership was just beginning....

[Return to Archives | Return to Listing ]

THE GALLERY

A JOINT LOG BY COMMANDER TAMARA ZEKAD AND CAPTAIN ARIELL RIKER

Tamara looked through her closet idly for something to wear to Jason and
Serena's wedding. Nothing. Not one appropriate thing. A black velvet
strapless, a green silk formal, a jonquil yellow suit which might have been
appropriate but for the slit which practically cut the skirt in half. All
from a long ago time when she dressed with the man in her life in mind.
Well, there was no help for it. She would simply have to get a
new dress.
Then she remembered she hadn't an escort for the evening. While not
technically necessary, it was always preferred. Tamara sent a quick note to
Jack St. Duiex to see if he would do her the honor, then contacted Ariell by
comm badge.

"Yes, Commander?" The Captain's voice sounded a bit preoccupied.

"Are you busy at the moment, Captain?"

"Hmm. Not busy, Tamara, just trying to decide what to wear for tonight,"
she replied, sounding faintly harassed.

Tamara smiled to herself. Looks like she came to the right place. "I'm
having the same problem. I need to make a visit to the shops. Care to join
me? I could use another woman's opinion."

Ariell's voice brightened immediately. "I'm on my way now."

Tamara met the Captain outside her quarters five minutes later. They
entered the turbolift within moments. "The Gallery, Deck 26," Tamara said
quickly. As the lift began to move, Ariell and Tamara chatted briefly about
what sort of outfits they were looking for.

"I don't want anything too showy," Ariell told her friend. "Something
understated, yet elegant. Simple, sophisticated, but not , well, too sexy.
Do you know what I mean?"

Tamara nodded in agreement. "I know exactly what you mean. That's
what I'm looking for myself. Everything in my wardrobe is completely
inappropriate to the occasion. I haven't gotten out much in recent years."

Ariell opened her mouth to speak, then closed it as they arrived at
their destination. By mutual agreement they began on the left side of The
Gallery where the more expensive shops were located. Both of them had plenty
of credits as they rarely took the time from their busy schedules for
shopping, so both were eager to go a little wild at this unexpected treat.

They split up, as all women do when they enter a store, and began
searching through the racks. They could have easily done their shopping from
the privacy of their quarters by accessing the ship's stores on their
consoles, but it wouldn't have been near as much fun. After all, shopping
was a team sport.

Ariell waved Tamara over to her twenty minutes later, holding up a
dress. "Well, what do you think of this beauty?"

Tamara reached out and ran her hand over the rich, dark green velvet.
The fabric clung lovingly to her hand for moment, before falling in heavy
folds to the floor. The bodice was heart shaped, low enough to give a hint
of the treasures hidden beneath, but not so low as to draw attention away
from the wearer's face. The sleeves began at the edge of the shoulder line,
then tightened to form a snug cuff at the wrist. The bodice was fitted to
the waist, while the skirt fell in bell-like folds to the floor. It was
glorious.

She gave Ariell a mock glare. "Great. The most beautiful and perfect
dress I've ever seen and you find it first."

Ariell just smiled serenely as she nodded to the sales girl to ring it
up. "Finders keepers, Tam. Don't worry, I'll help you find something."

Tamara looked around in disgust. "Well, not in this store, anyway.
I've checked every rack except the one where you found this beauty. Let's go
to the next store."

Ariell nodded distractedly as she entered her credits into the computer
at the sales desk. "Have it washed and pressed and sent to my quarters
immediately, please."

"Aye, Captain Riker," the salesgirl said happily. She had just made a
hefty commission and hoped the Captain would shop there more often.

Tamara and Ariell strolled to the next shop, which looked promising.
Tamara silently vowing to find a dress here if it killed her, Ariell
determined to do the same. Now that her own attire was taken care of, she
wanted to be sure her friend had a dress she would be equally happy with.

Within moments, they both found it. For some reason, it was tucked away
in a back corner rack, surrounded by dresses of only meager design. This
dress stood out like a beacon among them. The color helped. The gown was a
soft silver, which caught the meager light and held it within the folds. The
material was raw silk which felt like tiny spider webs under her fingers.
The dress looked as if it were made of light and would fall to shreds if
it were handled. She held it up in silence.

Ariell said nothing, just looked silently at the gown. She nodded at
Tamara with a smile. This was it. The neckline was a simple scoop, coming
to just above her breast line. The sleeves were loose, tapering down to a
snug cuff at her wrists. The dress was fitted only slightly, shimmering and
flaring even when Tamara held it perfectly still in her hands, as if it had a
life of its own.

Tamara heaved a sigh of complete satisfaction. She paid the exorbitant
amount asked with not a single qualm and gave the same instructions to the
salesgirl as Ariell had done with her purchase. Then the two women hurried
back to their individual quarters to begin dressing for the evening.

[Return to Archives | Return to Listing ]

THE GALLERY

A JOINT LOG BY COMMANDER TAMARA ZEKAD AND CAPTAIN ARIELL RIKER

Tamara looked through her closet idly for something to wear to Jason and
Serena's wedding. Nothing. Not one appropriate thing. A black velvet
strapless, a green silk formal, a jonquil yellow suit which might have been
appropriate but for the slit which practically cut the skirt in half. All
from a long ago time when she dressed with the man in her life in mind.
Well, there was no help for it. She would simply have to get a
new dress.
Then she remembered she hadn't an escort for the evening. While not
technically necessary, it was always preferred. Tamara sent a quick note to
Jack St. Duiex to see if he would do her the honor, then contacted Ariell by
comm badge.

"Yes, Commander?" The Captain's voice sounded a bit preoccupied.

"Are you busy at the moment, Captain?"

"Hmm. Not busy, Tamara, just trying to decide what to wear for tonight,"
she replied, sounding faintly harassed.

Tamara smiled to herself. Looks like she came to the right place. "I'm
having the same problem. I need to make a visit to the shops. Care to join
me? I could use another woman's opinion."

Ariell's voice brightened immediately. "I'm on my way now."

Tamara met the Captain outside her quarters five minutes later. They
entered the turbolift within moments. "The Gallery, Deck 26," Tamara said
quickly. As the lift began to move, Ariell and Tamara chatted briefly about
what sort of outfits they were looking for.

"I don't want anything too showy," Ariell told her friend. "Something
understated, yet elegant. Simple, sophisticated, but not , well, too sexy.
Do you know what I mean?"

Tamara nodded in agreement. "I know exactly what you mean. That's
what I'm looking for myself. Everything in my wardrobe is completely
inappropriate to the occasion. I haven't gotten out much in recent years."

Ariell opened her mouth to speak, then closed it as they arrived at
their destination. By mutual agreement they began on the left side of The
Gallery where the more expensive shops were located. Both of them had plenty
of credits as they rarely took the time from their busy schedules for
shopping, so both were eager to go a little wild at this unexpected treat.

They split up, as all women do when they enter a store, and began
searching through the racks. They could have easily done their shopping from
the privacy of their quarters by accessing the ship's stores on their
consoles, but it wouldn't have been near as much fun. After all, shopping
was a team sport.

Ariell waved Tamara over to her twenty minutes later, holding up a
dress. "Well, what do you think of this beauty?"

Tamara reached out and ran her hand over the rich, dark green velvet.
The fabric clung lovingly to her hand for moment, before falling in heavy
folds to the floor. The bodice was heart shaped, low enough to give a hint
of the treasures hidden beneath, but not so low as to draw attention away
from the wearer's face. The sleeves began at the edge of the shoulder line,
then tightened to form a snug cuff at the wrist. The bodice was fitted to
the waist, while the skirt fell in bell-like folds to the floor. It was
glorious.

She gave Ariell a mock glare. "Great. The most beautiful and perfect
dress I've ever seen and you find it first."

Ariell just smiled serenely as she nodded to the sales girl to ring it
up. "Finders keepers, Tam. Don't worry, I'll help you find something."

Tamara looked around in disgust. "Well, not in this store, anyway.
I've checked every rack except the one where you found this beauty. Let's go
to the next store."

Ariell nodded distractedly as she entered her credits into the computer
at the sales desk. "Have it washed and pressed and sent to my quarters
immediately, please."

"Aye, Captain Riker," the salesgirl said happily. She had just made a
hefty commission and hoped the Captain would shop there more often.

Tamara and Ariell strolled to the next shop, which looked promising.
Tamara silently vowing to find a dress here if it killed her, Ariell
determined to do the same. Now that her own attire was taken care of, she
wanted to be sure her friend had a dress she would be equally happy with.

Within moments, they both found it. For some reason, it was tucked away
in a back corner rack, surrounded by dresses of only meager design. This
dress stood out like a beacon among them. The color helped. The gown was a
soft silver, which caught the meager light and held it within the folds. The
material was raw silk which felt like tiny spider webs under her fingers.
The dress looked as if it were made of light and would fall to shreds if
it were handled. She held it up in silence.

Ariell said nothing, just looked silently at the gown. She nodded at
Tamara with a smile. This was it. The neckline was a simple scoop, coming
to just above her breast line. The sleeves were loose, tapering down to a
snug cuff at her wrists. The dress was fitted only slightly, shimmering and
flaring even when Tamara held it perfectly still in her hands, as if it had a
life of its own.

Tamara heaved a sigh of complete satisfaction. She paid the exorbitant
amount asked with not a single qualm and gave the same instructions to the
salesgirl as Ariell had done with her purchase. Then the two women hurried
back to their individual quarters to begin dressing for the evening.

[Return to Archives | Return to Listing ]

Tamara finished putting up her hair, then examined herself critically in the
mirror. Her blonde hair gleamed in the dim lighting, the intricate waves and
tucks of the style accentuated her cheekbones and cast her large teal eyes
into sharp relief. She touched up her lipstick, then stepped back to view
the full effect.
The silver dress was as perfect as she had known it would be. Sedate,
yet playful. Sophisticated, yet with a trace of whimsy about it. The
hemline was a handkerchief style, with sharply cut V's which displayed her
legs from the knees down as she walked, alternately hiding, then parting to
reveal them. Definitely a dress made for dancing in moonlight. She clasped
a grey velvet ribbon around her throat, a small silver pendant in the shape
of
a rose resting on her collarbone. She took a seat and waited for Jack to
arrive.

[Return to Archives | Return to Listing ]

Lieutenant JG James Michael Riker
USS Federation NCC-2100-B
Operations Officer/Engineer
Personal Log Stardate: 9712.08

Computer Open Personal Log...
Computer> Personal Log Opened

Well the holodeck program went great as expected. I got shot down, but I
bailed before I crashed the plane, I did make it back to friendly territory
lucky for me I was on my way back to base and not over an enemy base.
Oh yeah, the Wedding of Jason and Serena was great. I haven't been to
any lately and this one seemed to have went well aside from what everyone
thought would happen. Their wasn't anything bad other than the Best Man
failing to show... they said something was wrong with John's head, probably
was defragmenting his memory again or something. I'll have to check on him
make sure it's alright.
I'm happy for Jason. I think it'll be nice to have another married
couple on the Federation. I mean it does cut down from the women pool, but it
also cuts down on the hunters if you will... although we could be the prey
and just don't know it yet. ;-)

Computer Close Log before I get into trouble
Computer> Log Closed and please verify second request
forget it
Computer:> beep

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First Lt. Johnathan Scott
Chief Tactical Officer - - USS Federation
Personal Rambalings Stardate 9712.09

High Command? What’s the point of High Command? Because of the actions of a
distant relative, well over a year ago, I get a three week leave of
absence!!! And for what purpose?! So I can sit in my quarters and watch the
dust gather?! One must think that certain parties were correct when they
said, “High Command equals... hell High Command doesn’t equal
anything...nothing natural could be that bad.” * I’ve got to get out of
these quarters....
walk around... see the ship, there’s soooo much of this ship that I”ve never
seen. ::sigh:: But here I am, in a depressing room that is just another
facet of my depressing exsistence. I still wonder what kept me from pulling
the trigger that faithful morning <for our newer people my character almost
commited sucide about two months ago> but what is the reason for wondering
::sigh::

I hate the Federation<as in UFP not USS>
.... I don’t mean that... it’s so...
different at home...
there I wouldn’t have to worry ...
why do I worry here?
why do I care so suddenly?
Why?

[Return to Archives | Return to Listing ]

"Quoth the Raven, Nevermore" *

Scott sat staring off into space, watching the planet through the window
and the stars behind it. It was a seemingly lonely sight a M - class world
with nothing around it, but this was how they all had been in the begining no
starships, no space stations, no debris, no nothing... just the planet. It
was unique to be able to watch a unadorned planet and it was fun, the
bueatiful green waters, the flow of the land and the scattered clouds.

Scott bowed his head anyway from the bueatiful sight the pain lancing
across his face the agony of being so close but yet so far from home. It
brought tears to his eyes, the mere thought of calling another place home...
his home was Antar... and it was gone.

There would, could never be another home that was the truth, he had sworn
an oath to serve the empire to serve her best glory her impertenuations
everything; life, liberty, soul, thinking, abilities it had all been
surendured. It was a decsion he reveled in everyday of his life and one he
regreted just as strongly.

Life.... “to be or not to be?” ** that is the fatal question... or is it? Is
it any mans determination if we live or die? All races have it... we call it
noctoran the Terrans call it catholic <note catholic with a little “c” refers
to the entire christian church: Prodestant, Orthodox, and Roman Catholic>, or
Hindu... is it truely my decision?

Liberty.... “... to acheive liberty ...” *** What is true liberty? The
Terran philosopher Niccolo Machavelli, belived that the people had neither
the right nor the ability to govern themselves effectively... Mashavelli’s
prince was considered *the* ruler for two hundred years. Antaran soceity has
been based on his principles since the first Terran germ pulled itself out of
the sludge. But where has this led the Empire and where has it led the
Federation?

Soul.... “... You shalt slay me, but through the holy church I live on ...”
**** Does Pentharia truely exsist? or is it just a fiction some bueracrat
thought up? What is the true path to it? Many have left the old religion...
am I right in unquestioning obedience?

Thinking... “... but a man’s mind is his ...” ***** The Empire thinks, the
Empire breaths, if man thinks the Empire ceases to think and therefore the
Empire ceases to breath. Is that true? There were no mass trials no
revolutions in thinking... but why is the Empire from over half a quadrant to
three solor systems?

Abilities... “... man is just the sum of his parts ...”****** To be a
telepath is an honor... and it can be a joyous thing... or a curse... do I
have the right to limit what the Empire choses to do with my mind? Is that
my choice to make? Why do I make it?

His lowered eyes fell on a glimmer of light... of hope... of the future...
of his only course of action.

There it was a sparkling, glimmering the true symbol of hope... of
truth.... salvation... decision.... the epitome of life nothing mattered
nothing...

Suddenly Scott’s hand moved down seizing it in his grip, it was cool as if
prepared for it’s duty, it should be thirty nine generations of his family
had fallen upon it. In a swift motion in plunged and yanked it across
tearing into all three lungs... the pentence he deserved the afixiation he
had avoided so long ago. I was generous and powerful worthy of the hand of
Kai himself, Scott opened his eyes to see a shimmering hand which led to an
arm encased in glowing metal bracers.

His body spasmed and he colasped to the floor in sickbay a nurse looked up
as the internal scanners detected a major flucuation in bioreadings.

Fourty
TBC

* Edger Allen Poe's, The Raven
** Shakespear duh!
***Constitution of the United States of America
****Archbishiop of Canterbury, Saint Thomas Becket
*****Aristole’s High Minded Man
******Captain Picard, “The Measure of a Man” TNG<I know some else said it but
I
can’t recall whom>

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The Game is Afoot

Joint Log: Ensign Jack St. Duiex and Commander Tamara Zekad

Jack entered Tamara’s quarters, his excitement palpable. “You won’t
believe this... This last disk has no account or banking information on it.
It is a history of The Rose!”
Tamara looked up from her perusal of the European database. "What? A
history? Jack, this is marvelous!" She jumped up and hurried over to him,
practically snatching the disk he held out to her. "Have you read it yet?"
Jack nodded once, then shook his head. "Yes! I mean, I scanned the
first couple of paragraphs, then brought it here. I thought we should read
it together."
Tamara grinned and hurried back to her console. She inserted the disk,
neatly hooking an extra chair under her foot and dragging it over to the view
screen. Jack sat down without a word as the text began scrolling across the
screen:

On Tuesday, November 27th, 1095, Pope Urban II, leader of the Catholic
Church, launched the First Crusade to free the Holy Land of Jerusalem from
the Muslim leaders who occupied it. A huge army of Christian knights, the
premier military figures of the time, invaded the Middle East, most hungry
for land. The Muslims at the time were not quite prepared for the scope or
ferocity of the Crusaders. By the year 1099, Jerusalem had fallen, as had
several principalities in and around the Holy Land. Christian kingdoms were
established.

Twenty three years later, in 1118, Hugh de Payens and eight other knights
went to make the unusual commitment to monastic orders, as knights. Most
knights were fighting for money, land or power. Since knights had to buy
their own equipment, a vow of poverty was almost like a vow of nonviolence.
The stated the reason for their order was to protect pilgrims on their way to
the Holy Land. They secured the al-Aqsa Mosque on Temple Mount as their
headquarters in which the knights took on their monastic style orders and
vowed poverty. Since the Muslims had the effrontery to actually resist the
first crusading army, they were, by definition, enemies.

Pope Innocent II issued a bull that exempted the Templars from all authority
except the Pope. This was the final part of the foundation for them to begin
to construct an international power structure. They built an army and a
fleet. To feed and equip the army they bought farms and industry. The surplus
money, since individuals in the Order had vowed poverty, was then re-invested
and lent. The church prevented usury (interest on loans) so the Order
accepted gifts in the form of more land and equipment. The Templar army was
drilled and trained as units on a large scale in a time when such training
was unheard of. They also had secret initiations and meetings which proved to
be the key to their eventual downfall.

Not long after building a large army, the Templars turned away from
their original purpose of protecting pilgrims. They began taking part in the
efforts of the Christians to keep the land already taken and expand into
further Muslim lands. Pope Eugenius called for another crusade not long after
he was forced out of the Papal See and was able to take refuge with Templar
Knights. This was when the distinctive Templar emblem was established by
the pope. The cross patee would be worn on the left breast of the all white
robes the Templars wore into battle. True soldiers of Christ. For the next
hundred years, the Templars fought along side the other Crusaders against all
others. They fought along side Richard Coeur de Lion (Richard the Lion
Hearted) and won the respect and fear of all. Then the Templars made a fatal
mistake. They got involved in the politics of Europe. Pope Innocent III was
more concerned with challenges to his authority than in the Holy Land. A
collection of free thinkers known as the Cathars actually thought they could
get to heaven by arranging it with the Pope. He called for a Crusade in
southern France to purge this dangerous collection of heretics from the land.
Templars took an active part. Now thoroughly mixed into European politics,
the tide turned against the Christians in the Holy Land. One kingdom after
another fell. The huge forts fell one be one and finally in 1291, the final
fort of Sidon fell. The Templars had lost all bases in the Holy Land. To
them, this must have been their darkest hour. Unfortunately, things were
going to get worse.

In France, the last of Grand Masters of the order was selected, Jacques
de Molay. The Templar's had made some sizeable loans to the king of France,
Philip the Fair. Philip was embroiled in Papal politics and he was able to
get his own puppet Pope on the throne. In 1306, Philip was still desperate
for funds. He conceived an audacious plan to take the Templar treasure. Only
one crime allowed a king to confiscate property, heresy. On October
13th, all Templars in France were arrested by order of the Pope and thus he
disbanded his own personal army. He requested all Christian rulers to follow
Phillip's lead. Then the torture began. Nearly all the Templars arrested were
tortured in one way or another. Over the next few years, the order was broken
up in all countries. In 1314 on March 18 , the last of the Templars was
burned at the stake.

"Or was he truly the last Templar?" Jack muttered under his breath.
Tamara nodded and continued scrolling.

In Scotland Robert The Bruce was waging a war of independence against
Edward. Bruce was already excommunicated and he needed soldiers and funds.
Bruce flagrantly and deliberately ignored the Pope and sent out word that all
Templars would be welcome. The Templar fleet set sail never to be heard from
again. Supposedly, the 'Templar Treasure', the principal collection of cash,
was not captured by Philip IV, but may have been smuggled to the
fleet.

"Could the fleet have taken refuge in Scotland?" Tamara asked
rhetorically. Jack shrugged, a bemused grin on his face as he instructed the
computer to continue. The next two paragraphs appeared to be eyewitness
accounts of a strange happening.

“One night, I reckon it must have been early October 1307, as I was
walking home from the tavern along the Quai d'Orsay, I was feeling quite
lightheaded. You know how it goes with Mathieu, one bottle of wine is too
much and all the wine in the world is not enough. The mist was really thick,
so my drinking was not the only reason for my tipsy walk, mind you. Anyway,
as I was standing right at the bank, wondering whether I should go home at
all
and let my dear missus yak me into oblivion, or should I go back and open
another one with Mathieu, I saw a lightless galley drift down the river. This
was odd. I have been in the boating trade myself - I would never enter the
river at night, not without some light, but this galley just floated down,
out of the mist, passed me without a sound, and then disappeared in the thick
fog. Then there was another one, and another, and yet another, eighteen in
all. When I tried to squint my eyes, I think I saw the red patté cross on the
ships' sails, but at that time I could not say why the Templars would venture
out in the thick of the night with the whole fleet. So I returned to the
tavern and had a few more, but no one would believe me when I tried to tell
people of what I saw. It was only after the arrests and the rumours of the
missing Templar treasure that Mathieu finally agreed that I might have
seen something on that night. After all, it was only a few days before the
arrests began, and people started to wonder about the fleet. And let me tell
you, the fleet left Paris that night, and returned never."

There was no name listed of the man who had reported the incident. Jack
and Tamara leaned forward to read the next account, completely lost in the
story.

"On the evening before the raid, Thursday October 12th 1307, I myself
saw three carts loaded with straw, which left the Paris Temple shortly before
nightfall, also Pierre St. Duiex, Gèrard de Villiers, and Hugo de Chalons at
the head of 50 horse[men]. There were chests hidden on the carts, which
contained the entire treasure of the Visitator Hugo de Pairaud. They took the
road for the coast, where they were to be taken abroad in eighteen of
the Order's ships."

Finally, a name. The account was quoted by Jean de Chalons, a citizen
of Paris. Tamara made a note of it for further research. The two of them
quickly read the next few paragraphs, then leaned back in their respective
seats.
Jack ran his hand absently over his chin in thought. "Had the Templars
heard of the impending arrests and moved their funds and treasures out of
Paris?" he mused.
Tamara looked off into space for a long moment. "Surely the finance
officer and his closest companions escaped the arrests, Jack. There is no
record of them in the otherwise very thorough lists of arrested Templars."
She nodded at the records she had already compiled. "And all accounts from
that time showed escape from Paris by land was well nigh impossible. Also,
the booty Philip expected to find at the Paris preceptory, which should have
been huge by all standards, was for a large part not found, and to transfer
it by land was also impossible."
Jack nodded. "So, had the treasure left Paris by the Seine? It
certainly looks that way."
Tamara nodded, her teal eyes shining in the light reflected off the
terminal. "We now know the treasure did leave Paris, Jack. But where did
they take it?"
Jack sat up straight in his chair. "We now have a link, though. A very
strong clue. I surmise this, that Pierre Saint Duiex, finance officer of the
Knights Templar, on Thursday October 12th 1307, escaped with the vast fortune
that had been amassed over the past several hundred years by the order, never
to be seen or heard from again. . ."
The two sleuths sat silently in her quarters for a long while, both lost
in their own thoughts. This was just the beginning.

"Lilia pedibus destrue"
"Tread under foot the Lilies [of France]”

[Return to Archives | Return to Listing ]

Stardate 9712.13
Personal Log
First Lieutenant Serena Renee Shrader

I don't think anyone could be happier. Jason and I have finally been wed.
What a surprise to be promoted then too. I know Jason and I will be happy
together, with his daughter and our upcoming child. This child scares me
though. I hadn't thought ahead about childbearing. I just don't know.
Hopefully with Jason beside me, it won't be so bad.

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Dr. Rebecca Wingnt
CMO - USS Federation
Personal Log SD9712.16

After the away team mission, which turned out to be more than routine, what
with finding crew members of the long lost Voyager, we found another long
lost person. HAVEN ! You can't imagine the rush of feelings that came over
me when that hard black substance suddenly turned gelatenous and dripped off
of the person inside only to reveal Haven. I was shocked, happy, frightened
for his condition all at the same time. He was alive, and here, in my
sick bay ! He is resting and on monitors. I can't wait to hear what
happened to him, as I am sure the rest of the crew wants to know. I am torn
between my medical duty of keeping him stable and quiet, and my overwhelming
curiousity that just wants to shake him and hug him and ask him where the
heck he has been. I hadn't realized until he suddenly appeared, just how
much I missed that beautiful blue face.

**Close Duty Log**

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The Game Is Afoot
Part “Duiex”

A Joint Log by Lieutenant (jg) Jack St. Duiex and Commander Tamara Zekad

Jack St. Duiex and Tamara Zekad reconvened the next day to review the
many separate pieces of information that they knew at that point. Tamara
took out her padd. "All right, Jack. Let's see if we can make some sense of
the information we retrieved off the first disk." Jack nodded and hastily
brought over the two cups of coffee he had ordered from the replicator,
juggling a carafe of coffee between them. This looked to be a long night.
Tamara put down her padd, and poured them both a cup of steaming
Columbian. They each took a long, revitalizing sip, and began the session.
Jack began, "All right, for as long as I can remember, my parents had never
left New Paris Colony until they traveled to my graduation from Starfleet
Academy. I think that should be one of the clues."
"Agreed," Tamara nodded, jotting it down in her notes. "After all, in
this day and age, when travel is so simple and inexpensive, that in itself
looks suspicious."
Jack took a sip of his coffee thoughtfully. "Add that the investigation
into the destruction of the Passenger Transport, on which my parents were
killed, had been quickly concluded and labeled an 'accident'."
"Done," Tamara agreed, her fingers flying over the padd. "Also, Jack,
we need to add that the letter found in the box that was from your father had
been written 38 years ago. The one where your father stated that the family
had belonged to a group called “The Rose” for the past 200 years. Granted,
that's an obvious clue, but it should be listed."
Jack leaned forward. "I agree, we'll list every single piece of
information we have. Now, let's see, that would make the date of the letter
around the year 2130, correct?"
Tamara took another sip of coffee, her pale hands hugging the mug for
warmth. "Sounds right, Jack. I think we need to also add that in addition
to the letter from your father, the box that also contains 6 data disks, a
medal and chain, a ring, some tabloid articles, and a few old documents. I
can list them in detail after you've finished your diagnostics on them."
Jack grinned and took out his own padd. "I can give you some of that
right now, Tamara." He quickly punched in the codes, then began reading as
the display came upon the screen. "The mineralogical analysis of the ring,
the chain, and the medal show an estimated age to be 900-950 years old
(1420-1450 AD). They are nearly 100% silver and had been mined from northern
Europe, possibly from a region in Denmark."
Tam chuckled at his self satisfied grin as she entered the information
into her padd. "Good work, Jack. Now all we need is a date on the
documents. A scanned date, as we can't be sure the listed date is correct."
Jack grinned back as he set his coffee back on the table, putting his
hands behind his head, a perfect picture of complete relaxation. "I'm on it.
The diagnostics should be in tomorrow. Now, let's also add that the first 5
of the 6 disks contained mostly detailed accounting information. "
Tamara's mouth turned into a slightly worried frown as she entered that
into the list. "Information we haven't been able to decipher yet, though."
Jack just shrugged, still at ease. "Oh, we will. We've made fantastic
progress so far, Tamara, and I'm sure we'll get ideas on how to decode the
disks. It just takes a little time, that's all."
She cheered up slightly. "Ok, you're right. We've come a long way in
such a short time, I need to be a little more patient. Now, I'm going to
also add to the list the fact that the last disk seems to be a detailed
history of “The Rose” from what seems to be an origin 700 years earlier than
your father alluded to in his letter."
Jack motioned for her to go ahead as he leaned back and closed his eyes,
his hands still cupped at the nape of his neck. He changed his position
slightly to put his feet on the table in front of him, after a brief glance
at Tamara for permission.
"All right, put in also that the history was mainly in the form of copies
from personal journals, notes, news clippings of the time, and eyewitness
accounts." At Tamara's groan, he heaved a sigh. "Yeah, I know. The sheer
volume of this information is staggering. We're going to have to find time
to wade through some of it. What little we've been able to look at, though,
has been extremely informative."
Tamara put down the padd for a moment and took a long sip of her coffee.
She lifted her legs and curled them underneath her on the chair, ruminating
on the list so far. "All right, we seem to have most of it. Now, let's get
down to some particulars. We know from the disk we've read that on October
13, 1306, it was noted by “Jean de Chalons” that most of the Templar Knights
had been arrested in France with the exception of Pierre St. Duiex,
Gèrard de Villiers, and Hugo de Chalons as well as 50 Knights of the order."
Jack sighed and opened his eyes, taking his arms down and clasping them
in his lap. "Also, mark down that the vast treasure of the Templar Knights
had vanished along with St.Duiex, de Villiers, and de Chalons. Oh, and I
think that motto is important. I'd add also that the motto of the surviving
Templars had been "Lilia pedibus destrue"."
Tamara nodded, putting in a cross reference in English of 'Tread under
foot the Lilies [of France]'. After a few moments of silent contemplation,
they both agreed that was all they could think of for the moment. There
were many questions that sprang from this information but they had no answers
to many of the seemingly conflicting points of data. They only way that they
would get to the bottom was by reading more of the accounts on the 6th
disk. Additionally, they needed to decipher and understand the vast amount of
accounting information contained on the other 5 disks. They had a lot of
work ahead of them, but so far they were making great progress.
Tamara walked Jack to the door, giving him a tired smile as he left.
"See you in," Jack checked his chronometer, "eight hours on the Bridge.
Sleep well."
"You too, Jack. Let me know when you have the scans finished on the
documents and I'll add that in. I'll try to sift through more of the
documentation on the disk tomorrow."
Jack nodded and waved as the doors shut. "Will do."

[Return to Archives | Return to Listing ]

Tamara entered Sickbay directly after her duty shift ended. She nodded
to Ursula in acknowledgment of her smile, and walked slowly over to the
biobed on which Lieutenant Commander Haven was sleeping.
The blue standard hospital gown he was wearing only enhanced the pale
blue of his skin color. His chest rose up and down slowly, rhythmically. He
was sleeping.
She reached out her hand and lightly pulled up the blanket, a small but
necessary gesture. Tamara had missed Jar'Tan greatly when he had (died)
left the Federation, and she could scarcely believe that he was really here.

He moved slightly and she quickly lowered her arm to her side. After a
long moment of watching him sleep, she turned. Nodding once more to Ursula,
she left the room.

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PERSONAL LOG
LtJG St.Duiex
Stardate 9712.18

Jack made his way down to deck 30 and into the Arboretum aboard the USS
Federation. While the senior staff and department chiefs of both the Voyager
and the
Federation had been cloistered in marathon briefings, Jack was given the task
of leading a
team from the Fed’s Tactical department in transferring several of the
quantum torpedoes
from the Federation to the Voyager. Normally torpedoes were only loaded and
unloaded
at a starbase where the facilities were better suited for such an activity.
However, the task
was completed without mishap. They then spent the next several hours
uploading the
latest Starfleet spacecraft combat maneuvers (SCMs) into the Voyagers Threat
Assessment/Tracking/Targeting Systems (TA/T/TS). It was computed that these
new
computer scenarios would increase the Voyagers overall Phaser Operations by
9.2%. To
Jack this was a very acceptable trade for a day’s work.
In the month or so that Jack had been aboard the USS Federation he had not
managed to spend any time just wandering about the ship. He was mentally
exhausted and
had been sporting a migraine for the past 4 hours that would not seem to go
away, no
matter how much medication that he took. He strolled past the waterfall, not
really
heading in any particular direction but just letting his mind, and feet,
wander...
Several of the crewmen he had been working with had been discussing the man
that the “Alpha” AT had brought back to the ship, frozen solid in ice.
Evidentially it was
Lieutenant Commander Haven, a Starfleet Officer who had previously served
aboard the
Fed. This must be a very bizarre situation for all those who knew Haven. Jack
made a
mental note to look up the Commander’s bio in the ships records. “He’s got to
have quite
a story to tell...”
Without realizing it Jack had made his way to the Aviary and stood there,
leaning
on the rail, watching but not really paying attention. Between being so
caught up in his
new assignment, learning the in’s and outs of his new post, and investigating
the
information left to him by his father, Jack had not managed to meet too many
of his fellow
officers. Well, except for Commander Zekad of course. He had practically
monopolized all
of her free time for the past couple of weeks and now, looking back on it, he
felt guilty
although she really seemed to be as driven as Jack to dig deeper into the
mystery of “The
Rose”. Well, I should make it up to her some how...
As he headed back to main part of the Arboretum he looked out on the great
expanse of lawn below. There seemed to be someone down there, just off to one
side of
the center. It was late and the lighting had been dimmed for the evening. The
person was
dressed in all white and seemed to be performing some sort of ritual, using
what looked
like hand weapons. While it could have been anyone, Jack thought that it
might be the
Counselor who was known to visit here in the late evenings or early mornings.
Not
wishing to disturb him, Jack made his way back to the turbo lift and headed
to his
quarters. He was going to get cleaned up and see if the Tam would care to
join him in a
late dinner...

Ensign Jack StDuiex

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Personal Duties

Tamara closed her eyes and groaned, rubbing her neck. She had just
finished compiling and sorting through the information from the European
Database. She stood and performed some stretching exercises, longing for a
long, hot bath. But she had a few things to do first.
She walked stiffly over to her console and rang up Lieutenant St. Duiex.
He was out. Leaving a brief message that she had completed her part of the
information gathering, she invited him to her quarters tomorrow night for an
exchange of data. Tamara looked longingly at her bed, but she wouldn't be
able to sleep until she checked on Jar'Tan.
Tamara pulled on her over tunic, buttoning it as she addressed the
computer. "Computer, location of Jar'Tan Haven."
The computer's monotone replied, "Jar'Tan Haven is in the Archive
Library. Deck 9, Section 12."
She paused on the last button, then her fingers resumed their task.
Archive Library. She should have known. Tamara walked in measured steps out
of her quarters and entered the nearest turbolift.
As the doors opened onto the corresponding corridor, she stepped out,
narrowly avoiding Lieutenant Sadrac. As she opened her mouth to say a brief,
"Excuse me" she got a good look at the Orion woman. Rylene had one hand in
front of her face, her head down. Small sobs were tearing at her throat as
she brushed past the Commander. Hesitating to interfere, Tamara stepped
aside and watched her in silence as she disappeared around a bend. She
tilted her head in thought, then gave a long look at the room Sadrac had
departed in such a hurry. The Archive Library.
The doors hissed open at the Commander's approach. She stood in the
doorway and glanced inside, debating whether or not her intrusion would be
appreciated. Haven was seated at a console on the far side of the room,
silent. Tamara saw text on the screen, but she was too far away to make out
the words. His short, luminous white hair gleamed in the overhead lighting
as he leaned intently toward the monitor. The starkness of his black jump
suit
was relieved only slightly by his gray undershirt. She watched him for a
long moment, wondering if he was aware of her presence and just not
acknowledging it. His antennae had not twitched, so she assumed that he was
either unaware of her presence, or simply didn't care, so intent was he on
the screen.
As all seemed to be in order, regardless of the Orion's tearful flight,
Tamara backed out of the room, leaving him to his solitary occupation.

[Return to Archives | Return to Listing ]

Jar'Tan Haven
Stardate 9712.14
(Currently Inactive)

The Prisoner

For Captain Ariell, Commander Tamara and Dr Wingnt, with much respect

There was a strange, yet artificial light coming from above him as he
slowly opened his eyes for the second time. The same strange artificial
light he had seen earlier on. When he had opened his eyes, Jar'Tan Haven saw
someone standing above him. Someone alien and unknown to him. Yet
somehow... familiar. The being was joined by another being, and soon after,
a third. There were other beings passing back and forth through the brightly
lit
and somewhat sterile room.

They passed strange devices back and forth over his body. The strange
devices made noises; some sharp, some dull. The strange things did not harm
him in any way, but he could not shake the feeling that somehow, he was being
examined. He glanced around the room and looked at each being standing over
him with great curiousity... and fear.

Who were these beings? Where was he? Why were they looking at him like
this? What had happened to him? How did he get to this strange and
frightening place? Why did he feel so weak? What were they doing to him?
Who had taken him from his home? So many questions ran through his mind and
burned inside of him, yet he could not find the voice to summon them from
within him. However, one question, the most important one of all, nagged at
his
skull like a knife twisting through his brain. Where was his family?

His last thoughts were of his wife, Shi'Ara and his three children.
Sha'Tris, a daughter, the oldest, two sons, Tav'Riss and Jar'Tyr, the
youngest. Where were they now? Were they safe? Had they been taken to
where he was now as well? Were they being harmed? Were they even alive?
Jar'Tan had to find them. His loved ones, the only things that had mattered
these past ten years were gone and he could do nothing to find them. For all
he
knew, he had been taken against his will from them. Now he knew he had to
find a way out and get back to them.

He lie there for a long time, using sheer will alone to summon up enough
might to rise from this bed he had been placed in. He was able to lift his
head from off of the pillow just enough to look around. One of the beings
had had her back turned to him and seemed to be mulling over some strange
instruments. She was clothed in some strange attire that he had never seen
before. Strange, yet somehow familiar to him. She continued to examine
the instruments and was touching something flat. For each time she touched
it, it made a noise.

Suddenly, above him, another noise sounded. It sounded off almost
immediately after he had sat up. At the sound of the noise, the female
turned towards him. He shrank away from her as she approached. She held out
both of her hands as to show that they were empty. She began to speak, but
he could not understand the words she spoke. Her voice was gentle and
soothing, as to try and calm him somehow. She looked down to her chest
momentarily
to touch something there.

That was when he sprang.

Before USS Federation Starfleet Nurse Ursula Jamison had even been able
to finish tapping her comm badge, or was even aware of it, he had leapt from
off the bio-bed on top of her and knocked her to the floor. Jar'Tan was
lying next to her on the floor, his arm around her neck and his grip was
tightening. She struggled under him only briefly but her attempts to do so
were useless. He had managed ti pin her in such a manner that she could not
break free. As she struggled, his arm locked further around her neck. He
began to mutter words into her ear. Hot, labored breathing accompanying his
words.

"You... will take me out... from this place and return me... to my
family or so help me... I will kill you... and anyone who stands in my way."

Ursula begged and pleaded with Jar'Tan to let go of her and not to hurt
her. His grip did not ease up.

"Please don't hurt me. Please don't hurt me. Please...." Ursula said

"I do not understand your tongue, female. Do as I say... now!"

Nurse Jamison, frightened, alone and in fear of her life, pushed up on
her feet slowly as not to provoke her attacker any further. She could feel
the tears welling up in her eyes, but refused to let them fall. With her one
free arm, she slowly worked her way up her uniform tunic and to her comm
badge and tapped it once. The chirping of the device caught Jar'Tan's
attention and he pulled her hand away from the device. Unbeknownst to him,
the
channel was open and active.

Haven led her to what looked like the exit to this horrible place and
two doors slid open and into another room. In this room were several more of
the beings. When they saw the two walking into the room, they stopped
whatever it was they were doing and moved back away from the man holding the
other woman hostage. At once, one of the beings stepped forward to bar his
way towards what looked like yet another exit several more feet away.

"Get away from me... or the female dies!"

"Haven, what are you doing? Let her go! That's an order!"

Captain Ariell Johannson-Riker stood a good three yards away from the
two of them. There were two other Starfleet officers standing to the right
and behind her as well. They were just as equally concerendd with what was
happening as well. Commander Tamara Zekad turned to Chief Medical Officer
Rebecca Wingnt and gave her a most dire look of disbelief.

"I don't know who you are... or what you're saying, but I'll snap her
neck and then all of yours as well if you don't let me go. I swear it!!"

"What kind of sick game is this, Haven?!" Ariell demanded. "Stop this
nonsense now!" She took half a step forward and Haven pulled Jamison to him
tighter.

"Captain, stop!" Rebecca said. "He may be telling the truth."

Ursula's tears now flowed with the intensity of a country brook.

Ariell turned her head half towards, the Doctor and the Commander, her
eyes never leaving the sight in front of her. "Explain, Doctor." Ariell
said. Haven took a step towards Ariell with Ursula in tow as Wingnt
explained.

"Disorientation from prolonged exposure to extreme cold and cryogenics
has been medically proven to cause the victim to experience hallucinations in
over seventy percent of the recorded cases."

"That may be true, Rebecca," Tamara interjected, "but it doesn't explain
why he says he doesn't understand what Ariell is saying."

Haven took a nervous step closer towards Ariell and the door. He was
clearly growing more agitated at the conversation passing amongst the three
females.

"Stop talking!! I can't understand you!! Let me go!! I want out of
here! I want to be returned to my family!!"

Ariell thought for a moment, listening to Haven's almost pleading voice.
He was losing his grip on Ursula slowly, but she wasn't about to take any
chances on her being harmed. "Ursula, are you alright, are you in any pain?"
she asked calmly.

"I'm alright, Captain. I don't think he'll hurt me, He's terribly
frightened. He's shaking more than I am." Jamison answered, her tears
subsiding.

Then a thought occurred to Ariell. He can't understand us, but we can
understand him. She turned to Rebecca slowly and quietly ordered her to do
something that hadn't been done on a Federation Starship in nearly eighty
years.

"Computer," Rebecca began, "initiate the ship's internal universal
translator program on all levels, Sick Bay only."

With that, a slight hum was heard from inside the room. At once,
Haven's head lifted and he looked about the room. Just then, two members of
the Security team came in through the Sick Bay doors, phasers ready. Jar'Tan
siezed Ursula once more. "Don't move or I swear I'll kill her!! Where are
my wife and children?! What have you done with them?!" He was
trembling all over, quite visibly now. He was too weak to continue and was
on the verge of collapsing. Ursula could feel his grip on her weakening, but
did not try to struggle.

"Haven, it is alright. No one is going to hurt you." Ariell slowly
eased her way over towards him one graceful step at a time. "Let the Nurse
go, Haven. You have my promise that no one will hurt you." The Betazoid put
one hand behind her back and with two fingers, waved off the Security team.
The two men
backed off and stood at the edge of the doorway.

"What manner of sorcery is this that you can now speak in my native
tongue, female?!"

"There is no trick, Haven. It's a device we use to communicate with
each other. It helps us to understand each other." Ariell wondered what the
sound of her voice was like speaking in an Andorian language. She raised her
eyebrow at the concept. "That is what we all want. To understand each
other."

"How... How is it that you also know my name?" His tone had softened at
her calm voice. His grip on Ursula all but retired completely.

"Because... I know you, my Andorian friend." Ariell looked around the
room at Rebecca and Tamara. "We all do. I know you are confused right now.
I want... we all... want to help you."

"How is it that... you all know me?" he asked wearily. "I've... never
seen... any of you before. Who are you... people? Where do... you come
from?" With each question, he grew visibly weaker until he at last let go of
Ursula.

"He- Help mmmeeee....." he said, in a voice just over a whisper. It was
ironic that Nurse Jamison was the one to catch him as he collapsed, his
weight dragging them both to the floor.

The two Security crewmen rushed over to Ursula and helped Haven up off of
her. "I want him up here, gentlemen." The Doctor ordered, indicating that
she wanted Haven's body to be placed on the bio-bed. Immediately she began
to run scans of his body functions and his brain functions. Tamara went to
Jamison who was being helped up by Ariell, helping her as she could. "Are
you alright, Ursula?" Tamara asked, placing an arm around her waist and
leading her to a bio-bed herself. The woman nodded. "A little sore, but I
think I'm undamaged for the most part."

Some time later, Tamara Zekad was standing next to Captain
Johannson-Riker in Sick Bay. "Good thing Jamison left her comm badge open,
otherwise there's no telling when that Security detail may have shown up."
Ariell and Tamara both let out a noteworthy sigh of relief. "I'm also glad
we were all still in here when Haven woke up. Although I can't
say I'm too happy about his getting up on the wrong side of the bed. How is
it that he doesn't remember any of us or where he was?"

"It is like Rebecca says. His mind has been altered slightly from his
time spent in that frozen prison. The thing of it is, number one, how did he
get there? Why was he buried so deep? Why for almost six hundred years?"
She ran a curious finger over her lips gingerly. "What puzzles me the most
is that casing he was entombed in. It was organic,
yet it preserved him completely on a cellular level. There was no tissue
damage, no noticeable traces of neural damage to the brain, no nothing."

"This is a mystery even I'm at a loss to medically explain away."
Rebecca said, joining the little meeting. "I don't think I could give you
the answers no matter what I did. This is a medical conundrum to which I
have no conclusions. The answers lie with Haven, ladies... and that
mysterious bio-organic substance that he was shrouded in."

"Doctor," Ariell ordered, "I want you to personally watch over our
friend in there. Get Serena, or whoever you have to, to help you out. I
want him kept comfortable... and quiet."

"Aye, Captain." Doctor Wingnt responded.

Ariell turned to Tamara and the two made their way out of Sick Bay.
Ariell couldn't help but look back over her shoulder at the huge blue-skinned
man lying there on the bio-bed sound asleep. He wore the look of a beaten
man about his face. She felt sorry for him. Within that man's mind lurked
what seemed to be a dark and terrible secret that perhaps only he would ever
know. Perhaps only time would give
her the answers she sought. There was no one else who would know what had
happened to him on that planet. Perhaps... only the dead.

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Jar'Tan Haven
Stardate 9712.16
(Currently Inactive)

The Sleeper Awakens

With respect to Captain Ariell Johannson-Riker and Commander Tamara Zekad

"Welcome back to the world of the living... such as it is." - La Croix

His sleep was peaceful for the most part. He tossed and turned here and
there, even twisted his bedclothes about himself once or twice and had to be
turned to get them straightened out, but he slept quietly and relatively
undisturbed by anyone. The Medical Staff had been instructed by Chief
Medical Officer Rebecca Wingnt that no one was to enter the room without
prior consent from herself or the two most senior officers on the ship.
Jar'Tan
Haven was, for all intents and purposes, off limits to everyone.

There were prying eyes, of course, that simply could not defeat their
own curiousity. They had to know. They wanted to see him for themselves.
The man who had slept for nearly six hundred years yet had not aged a day.
Every Medical Officer, Technician, Nurse and Assistant, all of the Medical
Staff had at some point gazed in at him through the transparent aluminum
window that separated his room from the rest of Sickbay. They were
astonished,
perplexed, curious and frightened. When news of the siege in the Sickbay had
gotten around the ship and the identity of the perpetrator revealed, some
could not believe thier ears. They simply had to see him for themselves.

Beneath his eyelids, were motionless eyes. He wasn't dreaming at all.
He was simply asleep and nothing more. He had been so heavily sedated that
he never even knew he was asleep. He simply slept. In those moments that he
had moved and tossed and turned, he hd been under observation by one of the
Medical Staff, to record anything unusual. Haven was watched around the
clock. Mostly by the same people. Chief Medical Officer Wingnt, Dr
Serena Shrader, Nurse Ursula Jamison and sometimes Captain Johannson-Riker or
Commander Zekad.

The ship's Captain and Executive Officer had taken a genuine interest in
the Andorian's recovery over the last two days since he had collapsed in
front of them in a state of delirium. In those two days, his life signs had
increased steadily, body functions were gaining in strength, and he had even
gained back all of his motor functions and reflexes. When he finally did
awaken, he would be completely renewed. His vigor replenished.

It was quiet in Sickbay. The soft blip of the medscanner continued it's
rhythmic pace, never changing, was the only sound to permeate the silence.
The watchful eyes of Tamara Zekad were upon him. It was times like this that
made her Starfleet career seem somewhat mundane and ordinary, but this was no
ordinary man. Not by any means. Nor was this a mundane task, and she knew
it. But to simply sit and watch him lying there, still sleeping,
never moving, was taxing her patience. She hoped that he might open his eyes
or turn on his side, mutter something under a sleep induced state.

And then something did happen.

He let out a slight burp.

Tamara heard the noise and immediately looked up from the PADD of a book
she had been reading to help pass the time. Her eyes darted to Haven almost
immediately. His mouth had opened from the bubble of air that had escaped
his lips. Tamara looked at him for any further signs of movement or sound.
She stared at him a full three minutes, waiting. And there was nothing.

"That's it?" she said, standing up and placing the PADD aside. "That's
all I'm going to get out of you - a burp?" She walked towards him, leaned
over the bio-bed and looked down at him. "I don't know about you, Mister
Haven. You disappear for
nearly six months, without so much as a trace of you to be found anywhere in
the wreckage of the Prospero, and now here you are in one piece after being
found buried beneath 30 feet of ice dating back some six hundred years.
After all that, all you can do is burp for me?" She shook her head as if to
never understand him.

She drew up from leaning over and ran her hand along the edge of the
bio-bed. "What happened to you, Haven? How did you get stranded down there?
Why were you covered in that... that thing?" All of these questions she
asked softly as if to give comfort to herself somehow. "Wake up and tell us.
That is... if you can remember
us." A memory of events just two days ago recalled when he had claimed to
not know where he was or anyone present in Sickbay. His lack of any kind of
motion whatsoever was unnerving. It gave her a slight chill. A chill that
ran from one end of her spine to the other.

Needing to remove herself from the situation for just a moment, she
walked out of the private room to go and get a mug of hot, black coffee from
the replicator. She always loved the smell of it, even the replicated
versions. She stopped in front of the service port and spoke into the
replicator. Mere moments later appeared a steaming, hot mug of Raktajino.
She sniffed it and took a sip from the mug. A smile ran accross her face and
a
thought came to her. The simple things are always the things that make life
so much more worth living for. She took her mug in hand and headed back to
the dimly lit room where Haven lie sleeping. Stepping through the doorway,
she almost dropped the Klingon coffee.

Haven was gone.

To Be Continued...